Under Night
by AgentT
Summary: The game is death and Sara Pezzini needs to find out who the players are, before others meet their end.
1. Under Night Chapter 1

"What in the world--"  
  
"Yeah. Grisly, isn't it?" Vick said, her face troubled.  
  
"You all right?" Sara asked. She nodded.  
  
"The bodies themselves were half buried." She stepped aside and behind her was a big ditch. "Very ugly. It was a quick job, not a lot of care. Shallow graves. And no blood."  
  
"How's the groundskeeper?" Danny asked.  
  
"He's at the hospital. He's all right. Poor guy. Found the bodies and had a heart attack." Vick sighed. She looked down at her gloved hands and quickly peeled off the latex gloves, looking at them in disgust.  
  
"Vick, maybe you should go home. Get some rest." Sara suggested.  
  
"And who's going to determine the cause of death?" She said dryly, looking at the spikes. The joke was, of course, that no one really needed an autopsy to figure out what had killed the two people. "No, I'm fine."  
  
"Are you really, Vick?" Danny asked. "I don't know. Late hours--"  
  
"Danny, I'm fine." She said. She nodded. "Really."  
  
Sara nodded in concession. "Okay. Is there anything else you can tell from the bodies?"  
  
"Uh, well, the amount of blood suggests that a lot of it was taken out of the body before they uh--you know. Or maybe during."  
  
".... Thanks for the visuals." Sara said quietly. She looked down at her feet. "Crap."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Well, it rained last night, right? Footprints?" She said, looking down at her boot marks in the dirt.  
  
"Well, when forensics arrived this morning they yellow taped the whole area. There were shoeprints from the farmer, but none others were found. We did find these marks though, and bits of plastic snagged on sticks nearby."  
  
"Killer was wearing plastic bags on his shoes." Danny concluded.  
  
"Most likely." Vick said. "We're going to run the plastic to see if it can tell us anything."  
  
Sara's phone rang. She looked at the caller ID.  
  
"Beautiful." She said sarcastically. "It's Mays."  
  
Danny sighed. "Great."  
  
"It's okay, Danny, stay and get all the information we can get."  
  
"You sure?"  
  
"What, miss out on the opportunity to have a meeting with Mays? I'd never." Sara said, smiling.  
  
***********  
  
"What kind of freak show are we running here, Pezzini?!" He threw down the file onto the desk. "I have a double murder and two bodies on poles with their blood gone?"  
  
"Sir--"  
  
"This is what I am telling the family?" Mays fumed. "Mr. and Mrs. Franklin, your daughter was killed by a killer with sloppy burial skills. Do you know anyone who fits that description?"  
  
"Look, Mays, all I'm saying is that this is what Vicky found. I can't explain it, but I do know that it narrows things down considerably."  
  
"I don't care what it is, find the killer. I have the entire city breathing down my neck for this. Grandmas are calling up the station wondering if they should keep their daughters indoors, fearing a raving lunatic is going to take their blood."  
  
*******  
  
"How was the meeting?" Danny asked as Sara entered the office.  
  
Sara's weary look was all he needed in an answer.  
  
"Not quite what you expected I guess."  
  
"From that guy? Oh it was everything I expected." She shrugged and sank into her chair.  
  
"Well, at least there aren't very many people in New York with an affinity for blood."  
  
Sara looked at her partner. "You bet?"  
  
  
  
*******  
  
"So I was doing some digging. The way you describe these murders, and from any information I got off the news, what you may be looking for is a vampire."  
  
"A what?" Sara said, staring at Gabriel. "Are you serious?"  
  
"Completely. You see, the way the murder was arranged, I would say that there was more than one killer. Maybe even an occult ritual. The draining of blood would suggest a vampiric act. Its unlikely though. Looks a bit gaudy, a little cliched. I wouldn't be surprised if you found a pentagram. But in the real case, if it was an occult ritual, whoever did it probably knew about Vlad Tepes."  
  
"Who was he?"  
  
"Vlad Tepes was a 15th century prince in Romania who was known for his bloody conquests. He was also known as Vlad the Impaler, because of his penchant for uh impaling his enemies on tall poles. And there were rumors that he took their blood and drank it. That's probably a bit exaggerated."  
  
Gabriel walked to his computer and the screensaver disappeared, showing the Talismaniac wallpaper. He pulled up a webpage, where a large drawing glared back at them. It depicted bodies on stakes, their charcoal faces twisted in anguish. And it showed black going down the poles. The phone rang and Gabriel looked around. The phone cradle was empty, it's cordless counterpart hidden under piles of papers somewhere. After about six rings, he gave up.  
  
"Nice hobby." She commented.  
  
"That's not all. I'm thinking that your killers, or killer, believe they are vampires. A lot of these guys are really nice, but you do get the fanaticals, the nutjobs. And occasionally, a few do drink blood. A lot of those suffer--well, it's all pleasure for them--from a condition called Renfield's Syndrome. It's a psychological condition in which they have this attraction to drinking blood."  
  
"Isn't that really unhealthy?" She asked, her face changed in disgust.  
  
"Well, sort of. But in the past, tribes in Africa have been reported to have blood-drinking rituals, believing that the blood of a good hunter or a tribe leader possessed power. Sometimes it is actually a plausible idea. The Maasai for example mixed blood with milk and it is a good source of protein."  
  
"So I'm looking for people that believe they are the undead?" She asked in disbelief.  
  
"Or are pretending to be. And they'd be attracted to the scene, maybe even a worship complex." Gabriel moved his mouse and brought up a second webpage. Sara saw a listing for vampire 'clubs' in the area. He had printed out several addresses and now handed them to Sara. "These clubs open after dark, around 10 on most nights. They close an hour before dawn."  
  
"And how do you know so much about what goes on?" She asked.  
  
"I know people who know people." Gabriel shrugged. "Anyway, watch out. Appearance is everything if you're trying to blend in." He looked at Sara's leather jacket, zip up sweatshirt and jeans. "You might want to look less like a cop."  
  
"Gee, thanks." She said.  
  
Gabriel raised his hands in mock defeat. "Just advising."  
  
"Thanks for the advising then." She said. She turned and started walking towards the door.  
  
"You're welcome."  
  
*******  
  
Night came like a raven on dusky wings. Or maybe it was just smog. Sara sat on Danny's couch, waiting for him to get out so they could leave. He emerged wearing a black turtleneck and black jeans.  
  
"I think you have to carry flares. I don't think I could find you." She said. She was wearing black also, but her red shirt made her a brighter beacon.  
  
"Just blending in." He said, laughing.  
  
"Let's go."  
  
The club pulsated with music, and a small crowd had already begun to form.  
  
"Some of these kids look like they're out past bedtime." Sara commented, looking at a group of kids hanging around the edge of the crowd.  
  
"Makes you wonder where their parents think they are." Danny replied. "Sleeping over at Susie and Jimmy's houses."  
  
"So where are Jimmy and Susie?"  
  
They parked far from the club, but close enough for access. Getting out of the car, they start walking towards the back entrance, where Gabriel told them they had to go if they intended on getting in.  
  
A imposing bouncer stood outside a rusty metal door. "What do you want?"  
  
"To get in." Sara said plainly.  
  
The bouncer stared at them, his eyes going from Sara to Danny. He grunted and opened the door. It was pitch black inside, the only light being a rotating strobe light.  
  
"Split up, I hope I find you in the dark." Sara said.  
  
"Be careful."He said. She turned and saw him melting into the crowd.  
  
"You too." She muttered.  
  
*********  
  
"Come on Dave, you have to give me more information than that."  
  
"Gabe, it's not my information. All I can tell you is that there's a new group of blood junkies in town. And they're weird as hell, man. Word is they do rituals and stuff."  
  
"What rituals?"  
  
"I don't know. Crazy stuff. Some people say they like blood."  
  
"Where are they setting up shop?"  
  
"I don't know. They're always on the move. Saw them at the Raven last week. I've never been near any of them and they always stay in groups. They're always watching each other and there's this one dude, one big guy, scary as hell."  
  
"Anything else?"  
  
"That's it, man."  
  
"Well thanks anyway." Gabriel dropped the phone down on the couch and rubbed his eyes. He picked up his mug of coffee and took a sip. Grimacing,, he walked to his small kitchen and dumped it down the sink. He poured a fresh warm cup of coffee into his mug. The phone rang and he looked at the caller ID. He groaned. "Not now, please." He muttered. He picked up the phone. "Yeah?"  
  
While the other person spoke, he sighed and sat down at his computer. Taking a drink from his mug, he heard a familiar chime from his computer speakers. He clicked open his inbox and opened the newly arrived email. "I know."  
  
Hey Gabriel, here's what I know about the new guys in town. I think there's five of them. Three guys and two girls. They came in around last month, maybe. I've seen them hanging around. They don't talk to other people very much. They go into the clubs but they only stay for an hour or so. I called Mickey and he says that they go to the old Sherman warehouses after hitting the clubs. What's this for? You want to make new friends?  
  
"I'm careful." He said. "Really, I'm fine. I have to go now." He nodded and mumbled a few "uh huhs" before hanging up. He read the email again. He doubt he could get much in the way of a call to Sara now, since it was past 11 pm and he doubted that she could hear her phone ring. Another chime and he closed his eyes. He opened them after a while and clicked on the new message.  
  
Don't go after us any more. Do not ask anyone about us, do not ask anyone about where we go. Do not ask about what we do. If you do it again, there will be no more warnings.  
  
There was no name attached to it and the email address was anonymous. Gabriel felt his stomach tighten. In his line of work, trouble came every so often, but someone knew he was snooping around. From the email, he didn't think they knew about Sara, but who knows? He started making calls this afternoon and if they had found out by now, who knows how fast they would find out that a NYPD cop had requested this information?  
  
He sat back and closed his eyes. He took his phone off the cradle and dialed Sara's number. Mid-dial, he dropped the phone back on his desk and picked up his jacket.  
  
*******  
  
"First time." A voice said. Danny turned around and was greeted by a blonde girl with a wide smile. "I always know the new ones."  
  
"You're a regular then?" He said over the music.  
  
She nodded. "What are you?"  
  
"What?" Danny asked. He realized how dumb he looked and cupped a hand to his ear. "Can't hear."  
  
"Let's go somewhere quieter." She said, leaning close.  
  
She walked away and Danny followed, finding his desire to leave fighting very hard against his duty as a detective. For a second he considered not going. But he had barely spoken to anyone since he and Sara arrived.  
  
"What's your name?" He asked the young woman.  
  
"Eva." She said. "What's yours?"  
  
"Me?"  
  
She nodded.  
  
"Uhh-" He saw a brown-jacketed man walk into the club. "Gabriel." He muttered, momentarily forgetting his companion. He quickly looked back.  
  
"Like the angel?"  
  
"Not quite."  
  
She smiled. "Or a fallen angel." She got closer. Danny moved back, avoiding her. "Do you like the culture or are you one of them?"  
  
"I--"  
  
"I know a few of them. They say that the rush of drinking blood really adds to--" Her grin grew wider. "You know..."  
  
"I'm looking for some people." He said, hoping he didn't sound stupid. "Know any new ones in town?"  
  
She shrugged. "They pass by. What's the matter? I'm not entertaining enough?"  
  
Danny ducked and moved to his left. "You're very entertaining, Eva. I'm just wondering if an old friend of mine has been by. He probably doesn't know I'm in the city."  
  
"A few new ones showed up a few weeks ago. Scary bunch of freaks." She said, looking at Danny.  
  
He was tempted to comment on how freakish he considered her to be. But he didn't think girls liked that.  
  
"It was nice meeting you, Eva." Danny said. He left the alley slowly. "I'll see you around."  
  
"Wait."  
  
But he was already inside.  
  
If Danny attracted one, Sara attracted a dozen.  
  
"Beating them off with sticks?" Danny asked her, once he found her hanging by the bar.  
  
"With a verbal stick maybe." She said.  
  
"Careful what you drink here." He said.  
  
"I didn't order a bloody mary, if that's what you're worried about." She said.  
  
"Hey." A man said behind her.  
  
"You're not my type--" She turned. "Gabriel?" She could barely see him in the dark. It was the dim light that he now blocked that she had been able to see Danny. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"We've got a problem." He said, steering her towards the door.  
  
Danny, looking puzzled, followed.  
  
"I got an email from the guys you're looking for supposedly and they don't like me checking up on them. I don't know if they know about you, but chances are, they do now and they'll be looking for you."  
  
"The hunter becomes the prey." A voice boomed. They turned and the three of them looked around. There was no one on the street.  
  
"Who the hell are you?" Sara shouted. Seemingly at thin air.  
  
"I am one called Feyd." The unknown voice said. "Don't bother asking me anything else."  
  
"Let's go." Sara said quickly, thinking of Gabriel. He turned and hailed a cab. Getting in, he glanced at Sara and Danny.  
  
"How was your night?" Sara asked Danny as they drove away.  
  
"Close encounters of the third kind." He replied.  
  
"Same here. Same here..." She grinned.  
  
"There's that Sara Pezzini smile." Danny said, pointing.  
  
There was a ring and Danny picked up his phone.  
  
"Yeah?" He said. "Hey Vick. What? We're there."  
  
He hung up. "There's been another one." He said quietly. "Down near the Sherman warehouses."  
  
*******  
  
The crime scene itself was a myriad of grime and blood stained dirt. It was similar to the park scene, but not buried. This body was instead placed on a stack of crates, like an altar. The police were surrounding the place with yellow tape, which Sara brushed away in annoyance. Midnight on a friday night, who would spoil the fun with a murder...  
  
"Witnesses?" Danny asked.  
  
Detective Rogers nodded. "Over there."  
  
He pointed to a young girl and boy, each about 18 years old.  
  
"Geez, Danny, they're kids."  
  
"Hey. My name is Danny. I'm a detective. What are your names?" He had that knack for starting out casual. Sara usually barreled ahead, not giving much thought to anything otherwise. But Danny had the communication thing down.  
  
"Chris. This is Leslie." The boy mumbled. He looked blank, as if he was speaking from a recorded machine.  
  
"Chris, Leslie. Did you two see who may have done this?" He asked. Sara found Vicky and looked at the body.  
  
"I finished the autopsy on the first two victims. And then Jake ran a few names. They're both active members in the Goth scene. No homes though, drifters."  
  
"Thanks. Any ID on who this is?"  
  
"According to her drivers license, it's Amy Danner. But her necklace said 'Simone' so I guess 'Amy' isn't too popular." Vick said. She shook her head and sighed. "She's only 17. When I was 17, I was going to the movies and hanging out with Jimmy Connor at the park."  
  
"Weren't we all doing something like that?" Sara looked up and saw a familiar face. She groaned.  
  
"Didn't I tell you to go home?" She asked.  
  
Gabriel ran a hand through his hair. "Couldn't be avoided. This is on my way home."  
  
"No it isn't. What are you doing here?" She asked.  
  
"Before I got that email, I got information from a friend of mine." He said. "He said that the people you were looking for went to the Sherman warehouses after ditching the clubs. Who got axed?"  
  
"We don't know who any of they are yet. For all we know, they could just be here for some late night fun. What else did you find?"  
  
He glanced around warily, his brown eyes moving from one blue uniform to another.  
  
"What's the matter, Gabriel? You act like you don't like cops."  
  
He looked at Sara. "I don't." Then he cracked a small smile. "I make exceptions."  
  
"It's the same, most of the blood is gone. Except now the body was on crates."  
  
"An altar." He said quietly. "Like a display."  
  
"Those kids back there, they still have time to make good decisions."  
  
"I'll see what I can find."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"I'll see you later." Gabriel said.  
  
He started to walk away from the warehouse scene, pulling out something as he walked.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Jesse, who are these guys?"  
  
There was some muffled groaning on the other end. "Do you know what time it is?"  
  
"Yeah, and I know that you never sleep this early. Who are they, man?"  
  
"Just some blood types a while ago. You know them, the black clothes, the white makeup, nothing really big."  
  
Gabriel stopped in his tracks. "Jesse, I need real information. You said they did rituals, what are they messing around with?"  
  
"They do some chanting, incense, candles, you know the deal. Nothing huge. Mostly a bunch of wannabes who think they're witches."  
  
"You didn't tell me this before?" He said.  
  
"Gabe, I've been red-flagged. This creepy guy called me up and told me to stop talking to people about them. They're watching us, man. They know we're asking about them."  
  
"You talk to Dave?" He asked Jesse. Gabe wedged the phone between his shoulder and head and started typing on his computer. He couldn't call, he couldn't email. What could he do then? Carrier pigeons?  
  
"Yeah I talked to him a few hours ago. He was at the Masquerade tonight. Said some freaky chick was asking about the new guys."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"He said she had brown hair. He also said she was wearing a really nice bracelet, mentioned that you might like to have that one day."  
  
Gabriel sat up in his chair. "So?"  
  
"So Dave snagged it."  
  
"You serious?" Gabriel said. He felt like screaming. He felt like throwing something. But it wasn't worth it. He had some matrimonial head masks that couldn't be damaged.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"I'll talk to you later." Gabriel hung up and immediately put on his jacket.  
  
**********  
  
Sara was searching her pockets frantically, taking everything out. Her coffee table was littered with receipts and keys. She called Danny.  
  
"Hey, did you find anything in the car before you left?" She asked. Danny sounded tired. As he should.  
  
"No, it was fine. What happened?"  
  
"I misplaced something, that's all." She said. "Nothing much."  
  
"You all right?"  
  
"Fine." She said. "Sorry for calling so late."  
  
"It's okay."  
  
Sara hung up, not wanting to. But she couldn't talk at the moment. She needed to find it. She closed her eyes and tried to remember where she had left it. She had it before she left for Danny's apartment. She wouldn't be so clumsy to leave it there. The club.  
  
Her eyes grew wide and she quickly left her apartment.  
  
"Club's closed." The bouncer growled at the bar. The bar seemed so different without the strobe light, without the people, without the pulsating music. It seemed almost-lonely. The dim lighting from the ceiling cast shadows upon the bouncer's broad shoulders. "Dawn's almost here."  
  
"I left something here." She said. "A bracelet."  
  
The bouncer took a large brown box from under the bar. "If it's not in there, someone probably took it."  
  
She took the box and quickly searched through it. Among the possessions were a few watches, a cell phone, a jacket, and a belt. No Witchblade.  
  
"Thanks." She muttered, sliding the box back onto the bar.  
  
She left the club and the dimness of dawn greeted her. The early morning hours had an eerie calm to them. The period of time before anyone woke up and began their day and the time after the excitement of the night life. It was a time of rest, where the partiers wound down and the rest of the world started, not knowing what had consumed their city the night before.  
  
Sara pulled her jacket closer to her to combat the early breeze. She stepped up to the curb and hailed a cab.  
  
"Hey."  
  
She turned. "Following me now?"  
  
"I have something you might want back." He said. He took out the Witchblade, it's ruby red amulet looking dull and regular, but holding a quiet power as if it could burst into life at any moment.  
  
She stared at it for a second, the frantic scene at her apartment flashing by.  
  
"Thanks." She said, taking it slowly. "Where'd you find it?"  
  
"Someone took it off your wrist when you weren't aware. How did that happen?"  
  
She rolled her eyes. "I wasn't wearing it, if that's what you're trying to get me to say."  
  
He smiled. "Well, I got it back."  
  
"Don't you sleep?" She asked him. "I'm exhausted. You have caffeine running in your veins?"  
  
"Caffeine and natural curiosity." He said. "It's all I need."  
  
"Thanks for getting this back." She said.  
  
"Wear it this time." He said.  
  
"Will do." Sara said as she stuck it inside her pocket. Gabriel shook his head and started walking.  
  
When he entered his headquarters, he took one look at his computer blinking quietly and quickly entered his bedroom. The phone rang. The door opened and a phone was thrown out. It skidded to the floor and hid itself under the desk.  
  
******  
  
"Vick?" Danny said as he walked into her offices.  
  
"Mmmff." Came the answer.  
  
"Vicky?" He leaned closer. "Vick."  
  
Her head shot up, almost colliding with Danny's. "Geez."  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"No, no, not you." She said absently. "What's going on?"  
  
"You been here all night?" He asked. She nodded.  
  
"The autopsy is done."  
  
"Vick, you shouldn't have." He said, lifting back the sheet to expose the girl's pale face.  
  
"Here's the skinny on our girl. She died the same as the others, loss of blood, except this time I found traces of a potent drug. A sort of new narcotic that hit the market a few months ago. It's called the Shaker. Causes big hallucinations, really trippy stuff. But it takes a long time to kick in and a lot of people overdosed because they didn't think it was working. It was popular for a while, but faded out because the users started getting really bad seizures. The good news is that now that it's out, there are only a few people who still do it, who have developed a sort of dependency or immunity. You should be able to track them down fairly easy."  
  
Danny nodded. "So this could be a black market operation. Blood banks would pay a lot for good blood, but nothing with drugs in it. Anything on the other bodies from the park?"  
  
"Nothing much. Standard spike through the body, made from wood found right here in North America. But that's not how they died."  
  
"What do you mean?" He asked, frowning.  
  
"All of the bodies had one clean cut to the wrists. It's why suicides are so hard to stop. The wrists have vital blood vessels that pump blood to the hands. Sever that, and the blood has nowhere to go but out."  
  
"Then why not just dress them up as suicides?" Danny asked.  
  
"Harder to get victims?" Vick shrugged. "We got the tests back on the plastic found at the park. Nothing. But these guys are messy. They're clumsy and I don't think they're experts. They pick on these kids who really don't have jobs or family to rely on. No one to miss them. They're all homeless."  
  
"Probably why it wasn't made to look like a suicide."  
  
"Did you get anything from the witnesses?" She inquired.  
  
"They followed a bunch of vampire types who said they could give them immortality."  
  
"Immortality isn't what it used to be, huh?"  
  
"Exactly. They followed them to the warehouse. According to the witnesses, they performed some kind of ceremony, supposedly to induct them into the vampire world."  
  
"Are there free peanuts on that flight?" Vick asked dryly.  
  
"I don't think these kids were looking for peanuts."  
  
"Hey Danny." Sara said, walking in.  
  
"Pez, you look like hell."  
  
"Good morning to you too, Vick."  
  
"Here's what we have on the body. I found a big honking dose of Shaker."  
  
"The drug?"  
  
She nodded. "At these levels, she was probably out by the time she died. She might have been on the edge of consciousness though. With this much in her, she would have died from an overdose within six hours."  
  
"Wow." Sara said in disbelief. "What about the other bodies?"  
  
"Nothing. Which leads me to think that this girl took drugs before the ceremony, probably in the club, or before."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"What else do we have?"  
  
"Nothing very much to go on. As far as we know, there isn't any discernable pattern with these murders. Two on Monday and one last night. If we're lucky, we could be getting a call from a contact down at a blood bank. If they've taken any black market stuff, we'll know about it."  
  
******  
  
"I didn't know either of them very well." He said, taking a drink from his soda. They were sitting inside a brightly decorated office space, the headquarters of a still functioning dotcom company. The bright color contrasted with the simple monochrome clothing the young man wore as he sat at his computer, a screen of numbers, letters, dashes, and brackets rolling by. "But they were really enthusiastic."  
  
"And you weren't?"  
  
"I just have friends there. I go because I don't go anywhere else. These two were the newbies. Not so into the whole of it, just a lot of black clothes and stuff."  
  
"Anyone else you know that we could talk to and get more information?" She asked.  
  
"Everyone's spooked. We're all being more careful and we don't follow who we don't know. But you might want to find a lot of the new people. They're the ones that follow."  
  
"Thanks." Danny said, standing up.  
  
********  
  
He shuffled along the dark corridors, the wood panels creaking as he stepped on them. He heard a particularly loud creak and quickly moved away from the weak floorboard.  
  
"Look what the cat dragged in." A female voice called.  
  
"Hey Eva." He said nervously. She smiled and he grew more nervous.  
  
"What do you have now?" Another voice called.  
  
"Come on, man. I've got good information."  
  
"Then speak."  
  
"All right, so that chick you saw the other night, the one looking for you. She's a detective for the NYPD. They're probably looking for those ritual killings that have happened recently. You don't have anything to do with that right? I mean, I give you information on the scene, you give me cash, it's all clean."  
  
"I want you to keep an eye on one person for me. I believe you know him. Gabriel Bowman. Tell me whatever happens to him. Who visits, when he leaves, when he comes back. Why he is asking about me. And this detective, tell me her name."  
  
"Sara. Sara Pezzini." 


	2. Under Night Chapter 2

"This is so frustrating." Sara said, throwing the manila folder down onto her desk.  
  
"Murders always are." Danny remarked. He looked forward at the dry erase board in their office. It had the names of the last three victims and the clues they had so far.  
  
"We're looking for a group, three to five people, with one leader. A big guy, booming voice. They go to clubs and lure unsuspecting kids out, where they kill them and take their blood."  
  
"This guy, the one that spoke on the street, Feyd. I ran some checks. And I have one fitting the description we have. James Feydon, 27 years old, last residence, Chicago. I did some research in Chicago and look at this."  
  
He slid a computer printout of a Chicago Sun-Times headline.  
  
"There's been others?"  
  
"In Chicago, two guys. Each was heavily into the nightlife and witnesses say they would disappear at night after dawn. One night, they didn't come back. But they cracked this case. Some guy out there was killing kids for blood he sold to a blood bank." He looked tired.  
  
"Copycat?"  
  
"Maybe." He said.  
  
A head peeked into the room. "Hey, if you're not too busy, there's someone here to talk to you two."  
  
  
  
"Thanks Torres."  
  
  
  
They walked out and a worried looking middle aged woman stood up. She darted to them like an anxiety-ridden mess of nerves.  
  
  
  
"Can we help you with something, ma'am?" Danny asked her. "I'm Detective Woo, this is Detective Pezzini."  
  
  
  
She looked like she didn't know what to say, or who to look to.  
  
  
  
"Why don't we talk inside." Sara said, leading the way to the office.  
  
  
  
"I heard about these horrible murders." She said. "My son lives in the city and he's tried to convince me that he's fine, but in his job, he meets people who are-"  
  
  
  
"Ma'am, what's your name?"  
  
  
  
"Martha Bowman. I live north, nowhere really near the city. My son moved to the city a few years ago. I talk to him every few weeks, but he doesn't talk about work very much."  
  
  
  
"Mrs. Bowman, what does your son do for a living?" Sara asked, wondering if this was entirely a coincidence.  
  
  
  
"I'm not actually sure. He's mentioned it once or twice. He sells antiques, old things, very odd artifacts. I'm concerned because he never tells me anything about the people he talks to and I've heard things about the people being killed."  
  
  
  
"Mrs. Bowman, what is your son's name?" Sara asked.  
  
  
  
"Gabriel. Gabriel Bowman."  
  
  
  
Sara nodded. "I'll bring you to him." She said. "Come on."  
  
  
  
As soon as she said those words, she realized that Gabriel might have had his reasons for keeping his mother on a distant pole. Bringing her to his place might have been…well, it could be a bad decision. But it was done and as she climbed into the drivers side, she thought that she should call first, to brace him for impact.  
  
  
  
"You know where my son lives?"  
  
  
  
****  
  
  
  
"Hey."  
  
  
  
"Hey Pez." Gabriel said. He looked at the plastic neon dispenser on his messy desk and laughed.  
  
  
  
"I've got someone that you'll be very interested in seeing." She said. "I'll be there in a few minutes. Just-brace yourself."  
  
  
  
******  
  
  
  
"Gabriel, your mother is outside in the hall."  
  
  
  
"What?" He sent a confused and surprised look.  
  
  
  
"She came into the station. She's really worried about you."  
  
  
  
"I've been really busy. And you know my phone has been playing hide and seek lately."  
  
  
  
He went to the door and threw it open. "Mom, what are you doing here?"  
  
  
  
"What are you doing here?" She asked him. "I never know anything about you anymore, Gabriel."  
  
  
  
He put a hand to his head and sighed. He left the door open and started walking back up. She closed the door and followed. "You live here?"  
  
  
  
"And work here. And do my business here." He said. The first thing she saw was a very large jar of formaldehyde with a shriveled item inside.  
  
  
  
"What is that?"  
  
  
  
"The supposed head of Chief Osceola of the Seminole Indians." He said simply. "I bought it from someone in Florida."  
  
  
  
"How nice." She muttered uncertainly.  
  
  
  
"Mom, I'm all right." He said.  
  
  
  
"Gabriel, I'm going to go. I'll be at the station."  
  
  
  
"Hey wait." He said quickly, moving to his desk. He picked up a small stack of papers. "This is all the information I have so far on what we're looking for."  
  
  
  
She held up the papers as a thank you and left.  
  
  
  
"Hey Mom." He said. He gave her a hug. "I'm okay here."  
  
  
  
"Gabriel, I've tried calling."  
  
  
  
"I know. I see your number, I've been busy and I can't seem to ever find my phone." He said, looking around, noticing it was nowhere to be found.  
  
  
  
"How do you know this detective?" She asked, suspiciously. He sensed her tone.  
  
  
  
"She came in here asking about something and we became friends." He said. He was right. She did come in asking about something and they had become friends.  
  
  
  
She looked over his clothes and his hair. She smiled. "You look the same. Even when you lived at home, you dressed the same. Your hair, I remember though, was shorter."  
  
  
  
"I've been busy."  
  
  
  
"So I see." She said, smiling. "I see you're safe here. With a friend like Detective Pezzini, I see you're safe."  
  
  
  
There was a knock on the door. By habit, Gabriel looked outside and checked for any suspicious cars.  
  
  
  
The door opened and Sara walked back up again.  
  
  
  
"There's a problem."  
  
  
  
****  
  
  
  
"Danny found this at the station." She handed Gabriel a large brown envelope. He opened it and took out a set of pictures. He looked at them and stepped back in surprise.  
  
"Geez." He said, looking at the pictures. His breath suddenly caught in his throat. They had both forgotten that his mother was there.  
  
"Those aren't from our files. We never found more blood than was on the ground. I don't what they do with the blood, but I've been running checks on black market blood banks and yesterday a big shipment was called in. Enough that we get suspicious."  
  
"Gabriel?" His mother emerged from the kitchen.  
  
"Mom, could you-uh, you know I can never cook right." He couldn't find the words. Without a word, she left, reentering the kitchen.  
  
"I see…candles, incense…did you find any of this with the bodies?"  
  
Sara shook her head.  
  
"Then they took them with them when they left. I don't know. Occult rituals, blood banks. Looks like they're taking blood and trading it in for cash."  
  
"And disguising it to look like a cult. If there were easier ways to get cash, I'm sure they could have thought of it. But this doesn't come from people who just want cash, you have to be homocidal to kill people."  
  
There was a knock.  
  
"It's open!" There was a knock again and no one came up. He shrugged and looked out the window. He saw a figure in red leave from his direction and walk across the street. "I guess I'll-"  
  
He turned and Sara was gone. Moments later, he saw her cross the street. She looked up at Gabriel from the street and pointed to his door. She then started to go the direction the girl in red had gone. Gabriel ran down the wood stairs with a clatter and opened the metal door. No one was there and he looked down. A large brown envelope, like the one Sara had received. He picked it up and looked inside. Glancing around, he quickly ran back upstairs.  
  
*******  
  
  
  
Sara Pezzini walked into the smoky alleyway and looked around. There was no sign of the girl who had left the envelope. She heard a hum and turned around.  
  
"Hi."  
  
"I saw you the other night." Pezzini said, glaring at the girl. She looked no older than 22.  
  
"I saw your friend Danny the other night." She replied. "He seemed less than interested."  
  
"Well, you're not his type, no offense."  
  
"We mean no harm." She said. "You haven't been chosen."  
  
"Gee, too bad." Sara said sarcastically. "I was really hoping to have something to do on a Friday night."  
  
"But your friend is."  
  
"You leave Danny alone."  
  
"Who said anything about Danny?" She asked, smiling. "I'm talking about your other friend."  
  
Who else had been-She narrowed her eyes.  
  
"Then leave Gabriel alone." She said.  
  
"The angel Gabriel." She said. She looked up, as looking up into the heavens. "He's special."  
  
"Not your kind of special." Sara said. "You're being taken in for questioning."  
  
"For what?" Her face turned sour. "You have nothing against me."  
  
"You're a suspect in a series of murders." Sara took out a pair of handcuffs and her cell phone.  
  
"If you can catch me." She tried running. She darted down the street and Sara gave chase. She made it halfway down the block.  
  
*****  
  
"I made cookies."  
  
"From the stuff in the kitchen?" He asked in disbelief.  
  
"Don't think your kitchen is as stark as you think it is. I found a box of cookie mix." She said, winking. "Where's Detective Pezzini?"  
  
"She had to take care of something." He said.  
  
"I haven't seen you with many of your friends. You don't talk about them very much." She sat down on a chair.  
  
"Mostly business acquaintances. I mean, I have friends, they're not like Sara." Which was true, since she had the one artifact he could not procure. And he respected that, since he knew of the dangerous and mysterious history the Witchblade possessed.  
  
"Not like Sara?" She asked, a smile coming to her face.  
  
"She's a cop." He shook his head. "And no, Mom. Stop thinking about it. Nothing's going on."  
  
"What? I wouldn't think of such a thing. But I do think you should cut your hair." She said.  
  
"I think my hair is fine." He said. He ran his hand through his dark moppish hair and he actually did realize that it could use a cut. But he didn't let much of it show.  
  
"You always did." She said. "Like your brother. But you were the only one who had the fascination for--" She gazed at his shelves. "-Stuff."  
  
"Are you staying in a hotel?" He asked.  
  
"No, I'm staying with your Aunt Rachel. Remember? She moved into the city a few months ago."  
  
He nodded. "How is Aunt Ray?"  
  
"Doing well. You know how much of a workaholic she is." His mother smiled. "I suppose you're fine. I'll be in town for another day or so. Driving back up on Friday."  
  
He nodded and gave his mom a hug. "Say hi to Aunt Ray for me." He said.  
  
As she walked down, he opened the envelope again and looked at the contents. A letter and nothing else.  
  
You may not know who we are, but we invite you to see that we are not bad people. We are like you and everyone else around you, with one exception. We live with the night, not with the day. Our existence has been documented through history, whether your history dictates it so or not. We were present at the beginning of written word; we are present now in the age of electronic word. We have seen many things, heard many things. And those who have sought us out can now experience the same also. I only send you this to explain who we are and why we do the things we do. You call it murder and you call the freed victims, but to us, it is a rite of passage. The specially chosen, selected to become perfect, a part of a perfect system. While you see us as being wrong, have no worry. Our task will be accomplished soon. If you can find us, then we congratulate you on your skill. But if you cannot, we will find you.  
  
The letter was unsigned, but he suspected he knew where it came from. Feyd. The booming voice they heard on the street, calling down from wherever he was, watching them. He was probably watching his window at that very second. Or do they not come out in the day? He rolled his eyes. If they really were out to make money from blood banks, then there was a reason why the latest victim's blood had not been sent to a black market bank.  
  
Gabriel dropped the letter on his desk and reached for the phone. He stopped and realized it was not there. Growling in frustration, he began to look for it.  
  
******  
  
"Gabriel I want you out of town now."  
  
"But I've just moved in." He joked, indicating the dozens of boxes of relics he had still in their casings.  
  
"I'm serious. They're looking for you."  
  
"Just like we're looking for them." He handed her the letter.  
  
"The girl said that they had chosen you."  
  
"Well they can choose me all they want, I'm not going anywhere. If they really want cash from selling blood, then they'll pick up anyone off the street."  
  
"You're too stubborn for your own good." She said, wanting to punch him and just drag him out of his home.  
  
"So are you." He said. "Would it make you feel better if I didn't stay here tonight?"  
  
She sighed. "Yeah, it would. At least they wouldn't find you here."  
  
"Okay. Fine. I'll be at my friend's house tonight." He elegantly waved his hands as if he were announcing royalty.  
  
She checked her watch. "You better start leaving now. I'll get information from our letter courier."  
  
She walked to the top of the stairs and stopped. She turned and stared at Gabriel.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Hurry up."  
  
He looked around, picked up a jacket and his laptop case. "Happy?"  
  
"Yes. Very. Now go." She said, pointing to the door.  
  
"Sure, Mom." He remarked.  
  
"Your hair is too long." She said.  
  
"Yeah that's what my mom said too."  
  
**********  
  
"What do we have from this girl?" Pezzini asked as she walked into the station. Jake greeted her with a file.  
  
"Her name is Evelyn Montgomery. Her parents are both wealthy, they live in Albany. She left home a year ago, came to the city, fell into this crowd. It took a little convincing, but we got good information."  
  
"You didn't tell her about our elusive Feyd?"  
  
"She told us his name was Feyd. She doesn't know much about him. Met him in New York. I think he's using her to do errands because she can't give much information about him." Jake said. "Here's what we have so far. Eva Montgomery and her bunch of nightcrawlers lurks around clubs until they find a batch of unsuspecting and gullible kids. The rest, we know. She also spilled about some guy named Dave Wales, local guy, no criminal record, just supplying information from clubs. Which kids are new, who's snooping around them. She was pretty eager to spill after we convinced her that she would have a lesser sentance for murder. She seemed really surprised too. I don't even think she knows what he's doing."  
  
"According to this letter, they're deluded into thinking that there's a special place for people like them. More like a sad attempt at covering up what we already know. But I don't doubt that they're desparate to cover their tracks. And I think they might go after Gabriel."  
  
"Where is he now?" He asked.  
  
"At a friend's house. Where's Danny?"  
  
"He left for a family emergency. He said he would be back tonight. I'm your substitute I guess."  
  
She nodded. "All right, here's what's going to happen. I want to nail these guys now, tonight. If they can't get to Gabriel they're going to get to someone else. And chances are, if they succeed, we're not going to see them much after tonight. From what we know about the Chicago case, this guy Feydon doesn't stay active very long. A week, two or three at most. They arrive a month early, check out the area, then they start their schtick." She looked at a large map of New York.  
  
She handed Jake a list of addresses.  
  
"Okay, so one murder happened here." She stuck a pin at the Raven club, located about 15 minutes from the Masquerade. "The other one took place right here." She stuck on at the Masquerade.  
  
"There doesn't seem to be a discernable pattern."  
  
"Well there's about four more clubs on this list that qualify for what we're looking for. And they're already on alert. It's bad for business if their clubbers die, you know?"  
  
Jake sat down on the desk, still looking over the list.  
  
"Can't buy drinks if you're dead." She said, looking at the map. "The next address is for the Velvet Ball. It's down here."  
  
"Okay. If you look at that, they could be moving in a straight line."  
  
"I wonder what they'll do when their girl doesn't come back from her mail delivery."  
  
"Well if we let her loose, she'll tell them what she told us and they probably won't go to whatever place we think they're going to." Jake said, grabbing a pretzel from a bag on Danny's desk.  
  
"Maybe. Or maybe they'll go there anyway. From the tone of the letter, it's a challenge. If we can find them, bravo, but if we can't they'll be able to find us."  
  
"So they'll be obvious?" Jake asked. "Isn't that a little-aren't bad guys supposed to not want to get caught?"  
  
"They don't want to get caught." She said. "But they're extending the challenge, thinking we won't find them."  
  
"So are we going to chase them?" He asked, migrating from pretzels to chips.  
  
"Yeah, it just depends on where to chase." She glanced at Jake. "How long has it been since you ate?"  
  
He checked his watch. "Two minutes."  
  
"Let's let Miss Montgomery go, and see where she turns up." Jake nodded and threw the empty bag of chips into the trashcan.  
  
"Let's go."  
  
******  
  
"Where are we going?" Jake asked in the car. Sara shrugged.  
  
"No clue."  
  
Jake pulled out his cell phone. The sun had set, the clock was ticking towards doomsday. He dialed a number.  
  
"Hey Donald, anything on the three I asked you about?" There was muttering on the other end. "Okay, thanks."  
  
He proceeded to do the same two more times.  
  
"What's going on?"  
  
"Well, Rick at the Velvet said he just saw a girl and two guys walk in and he hasn't seen them before."  
  
"That could be anyone." Sara said turning a corner.  
  
"Come on, Pez, we have no idea where they're going so we might as well try something. There's three clubs on our list.  
  
"All right. Let's hit the Velvet then."  
  
*****  
  
"Hey Gabe, what's up?"  
  
"Nothing much Dave. Nothing much. What's going on with you?"  
  
"Mi casa es su casa." He said, spreading his arms. "welcome to my castle."  
  
Gabriel looked around at the sparse apartment, the couch that he had seen for six years in the same place and the dusty TV. The only thing that seemed to have much care to it was the silver computer in the corner.  
  
"You pay your electricity?" He asked.  
  
"Took care of it with the extra cash I had left from buying Lola over there." He said, pointing to the computer.  
  
"Dude, you're unemployed. How'd you get the cash for that?" Gabriel asked, laughing.  
  
"Ah, I have my sources." He grinned. "Make yourself at home, I ordered pizza."  
  
"Big investment." Gabriel said. He knew what it was like to not have much money and have to live in a city that demanded money. But he also knew what it was like to work and to make something out of what you had, as meager as it was. So the question was, why did he continually seek those who had no such determination? Whatever the answer was, his friends were his friends, whether they had money, determination, or a good couch.  
  
"Hey I think the pizza man is downstairs." Dave said, opening the door. "I'll be back."  
  
When he was outside, he pulled out his cell phone.  
  
"Hey, he's over at my place." He said. "Where's Eva?"  
  
Inside, Gabriel dropped his jacket, his laptop case, and a duffel bag onto the couch and pulled out his cell phone. He called Sara.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Checking in, ma'am."  
  
"Good. Don't go out tonight." She said, rolling her eyes.  
  
"Wasn't planning on it. I have an archeologist from Egypt calling tonight who wants to buy one of the gold Tuthukamen statuettes I have."  
  
"Great." She said, barreling on. "So stay in and be careful."  
  
"I'll keep my eyes open."  
  
"Hey, where are you staying?" She asked.  
  
"My friend's place. Dave!" He yelled away from the phone.  
  
There was talking far from the phone.  
  
Sara frowned. She stopped at a stop light and turned to Jake. "Hey what was the name of the guy that gave information to them?"  
  
Jake pulled up a sheet of paper. "Dave Wales."  
  
"Hey Pez?"  
  
"Hey, your friend Dave, what's his last name?"  
  
"Wales. Why?"  
  
"Gabriel, I want you to go somewhere else."  
  
"What? Why?" Gabriel said. By instinct, he had already picked up his jacket and shrugged it on.  
  
"Cold?" Dave asked.  
  
Gabriel nodded absently.  
  
"Your boy Dave has been the one supplying these guys with information. He's probably told them where you are by now."  
  
"You sure?" He picked up his laptop case.  
  
"Yes." She said, wanting to turn around and find him.  
  
"All right, I'll uh pick you up. Where's your car broken down at again?"  
  
"Go to the station and just hang around at my office, you know where it is." She said.  
  
"Okay." He still held his phone, the line open, as he walked to the door.  
  
"Where you going, Gabe?"  
  
"Oh my friend's car-it broke down. I've got to go help her."  
  
"She can get it towed." Dave said. He grinned.  
  
"Nah, she really needs someone to come around." He said. "Thanks though."  
  
Gabriel opened the door. He stopped and hit his fist against it. A few flakes of paint fell off and fluttered to the ground.  
  
"You sold me out." Gabriel said, looking at Dave, dejected. "What'd they bribe you with? Electricity? You could barely pay for food before I helped you out. You can't get your ass to work, cause you can't afford a cab and you don't want to walk. Jesse helped you too. You sell me out? Did you sell Jesse out too?"  
  
Dave's eyes went wide. He stammered and his breath grew deep. His asthma was coming back to haunt him.  
  
"Gabe, I know. I needed cash. Real bad. I owed some money, to-to some people. You know what it's like."  
  
Gabriel stopped his rage. "I don't know what it's like, Dave. That's the difference." He shook his head. "I don't know. I know what it's like not to have money. But I tried at least. I never spent money I didn't have. I'm not bragging or anything, but if you tried-" He sighed. "I gotta go."  
  
"Okay." He said quietly.  
  
Gabriel walked out, feeling betrayed. As he emerged from the building, he waited for a cab. He silently laughed to himself when he remembered that if he had ever told his mother about the friends he had, or even let her meet them just once, she'd have picked up on something like that a second later. "Nothing good from that boy" she might have said. And something like "He has no motivation" which was definitely true.  
  
But he forgot all of this as he stepped inside the cab. He gave directions to the cab driver and as the car started to drive away, he looked back up at Dave's window.  
  
"I couldn't keep him here." Dave said over the phone. "I'm not doing this anymore."  
  
"Then there will have to be a replacement." Feyd said, his voice rumbling. Dave's hands trembled. "Do you feel special?"  
  
He dropped the phone and ran to the door. Flinging it open, he stopped and backed up. Two men entered and a girl behind them was grinning. 


	3. Under Night Chapter 3

"Gabriel?"  
  
"Hey Aunt Ray." Gabriel said, smiling.  
  
"What a lovely surprise." His mother said, hugging him. "What happened in your apartment?"  
  
"Oh, it had to get fumigated. I forgot the exterminator was coming today." He said. He smiled. "Can I use the phone?"  
  
Aunt Rachel nodded and led him to the phone.  
  
********  
  
  
  
"God, I hope Gabriel's out." She said, parking in the alley far away from the Velvet. "We'll stay around here until we see them. Or get a phone call from your contacts saying they're somewhere else."  
  
  
  
"Where is he staying now?" Jake asked, looking outside the tinted windows.  
  
  
  
"No idea. I'm worried, but I can't do anything about it when there's a band of killing lunatics."  
  
  
  
"You want to check up on him while I stay around?" Jake offered.  
  
  
  
"No, it's all right. I wouldn't want me going in alone, so why would I want you to do it?"  
  
  
  
"Want to call all the contacts again?"  
  
  
  
After a minute of silence Sara sighed. "Lets call all the contacts again."  
  
  
  
Jake nodded and picked up his phone.  
  
  
  
********  
  
  
  
"This is great, Aunt Ray." Gabriel said.  
  
  
  
"How long has it been since you had a good home cooked meal?" She asked. She looked well, in her mid 30's, with a steady job and a dog. Her brown hair was now dyed a light auburn color that offset her eyes, which were always a bright ice blue. Gabriel remembered, as a kid, her eyes, the best feature about her. They were kind and adoring, and always bright. And she had developed into a great chef.  
  
  
  
He squinted. "I have no idea."  
  
  
  
She smiled and scooped another big spoonful of mashed potatoes onto his plate. A small bit fell off the spoon and onto the floor. The dog padded up and licked it up. Gabriel gave it a friendly pat on the head.  
  
  
  
"I'm really almost full." He said, holding a hand up.  
  
  
  
"Well, my plan is that if you can't even remember when you had a good home cooked meal, you need to eat as much as possible to last you for the next few weeks until you can come back." She pointed to the corn. "Best corn in the city, I can tell you."  
  
  
  
He smiled and nodded. "I'll make sure to try that."  
  
  
  
His cell phone rang from the living room and he excused himself.  
  
  
  
"Gabriel, I didn't raise you without manners. No calls at the dinner table."  
  
He knew it was true she had never allowed phone calls. But this was a different case. A different case he could never be able to explain to his mother, but it was a case. He stood up and went into the living room.  
  
"Gabriel!"  
  
"Let the boy go, Martha. He's young. Probably a girl." Rachel smiled.  
  
"Hello?" Gabriel said silently.  
  
"It's me. Are you okay?" She asked, her voice agitated. He could hear the swishing of rush hour behind her.  
  
"I'm fine. I'm at my aunt's house."  
  
"I thought I told you to go to the station." She said.  
  
"I decided to visit my Aunt instead." He said. "She lives here."  
  
"I still think you should be at the station." She said. "Did anyone follow you?"  
  
  
  
"I don't think so."  
  
  
  
"Good. Stay inside. Give me the address for your aunt's place." She said.  
  
He told her and she scribbled it down quickly.  
  
"I'll call you in a few hours."  
  
  
  
"How's the big operation?" He asked, making slight conversation. Mostly because he didn't really know why he cared about Sara so much, so quickly. And he didn't know why she cared for him so much, so quickly.  
  
  
  
"Slow. We're waiting for the freaks to come out to play."  
  
  
  
"Oh, did you read that packet of stuff I gave you?"  
  
  
  
Sara grimaced. "Oh, I left some of it at the station."  
  
  
  
"I put in there a theory on where I think they might be headed next. I thought they would go a little more discreet after you started digging into their hiding spots. I remembered the old harbor warehouses they used to have for shipping."  
  
  
  
"Why is it always warehouses?" Pezzini asked.  
  
  
  
"No clue. Sometimes they have midnight raves there, small groups, only about a two hundred people or so people. It's where business is done, drugs, betting, whatever your cup of tea is."  
  
  
  
"Thanks, I'll look into it." She said. "I'll call later. Stay inside."  
  
  
  
"Thanks. I will." He said and hung up.  
  
  
  
"He okay?" Jake asked. She nodded and he resumed his attention on the door of the club, which had started to open to people.  
  
  
  
"Gabriel mentioned the harbor warehouses as a gathering place for illegal dealings. Drugs, bets, you know. Think we have a better chance there?"  
  
  
  
He shrugged. "Makes sense. But if he's offering a challenge, then maybe he'd enjoy a public display at a legitimate place."  
  
  
  
"Maybe. I still have a bad feeling though. I don't like not having direction. He could be out of town by now, since he doesn't have Gabriel."  
  
  
  
"Then if he is, we'll catch him the next time he gets the itch. Here, Philadelphia, Siberia." The police scanner crackled.  
  
  
  
"Harbor." Jake said, looking at Sara.  
  
  
  
"Where would you go if you wanted to do a ritual killing?" Jake asked.  
  
  
  
"As if I would know. I don't know…the back woods of Kentucky?"  
  
  
  
"Or the harbor. Mostly dirt, no concrete. Not like here, where it's all pavement. Can't drive down a spike into concrete. If they're smart, they know we're onto them and we're chasing them. So they wouldn't want to risk getting caught transporting the body from the club to somewhere else."  
  
  
  
Pezzini nodded. "Harbor it is then. They really did teach you something at school."  
  
  
  
She started up the car and it rolled down the street into traffic.  
  
  
  
******  
  
"What's going on in your life, Gabe?" Rachel asked, sitting down across from him on the couch.  
  
"Nothing really. Business as usual." He was sprawled on the couch, staring at his aunt from a sideways angle.  
  
"What kind of clients do you get in dealing with ancient talismans?" She asked.  
  
"Ah, mostly collectors, historians, archeologists, some police."  
  
"How's your situation?"  
  
"What?" He sat up, his hair in his face. He raked it aside.  
  
"Your financial situation."  
  
He nodded. "I'm doing fine."  
  
"Really. This business of yours, it's doing well?"  
  
He glanced at his mom, his biggest critic.  
  
"The last thing I sold was a necklace worn by Nefertiri that was placed inside a sarcophagus. I sold it for $7,000 dollars."  
  
He noted slight satisfaction at the wide eyed looks from his mother and aunt. All right, so he had sold a necklace supposedly worn by Nefertiri. And it was placed inside a sarcophagus, he just wasn't sure if it was hers.  
  
"Really. And where are your investments?" His mom asked.  
  
"Mostly stock, but I keep a lot of it in savings." He quickly summed up. "Actually, I use a lot of it to buy other artifacts, rare items."  
  
"Interesting. I had no clue there was a market in this." Rachel said.  
  
"There are a lot of people who have money to spend on things from the past."  
  
He had no idea why she was so interested, but at least she was. His mother had never really grasped the idea of her sons being anything besides doctors or lawyers, the former of which his brother had become.  
  
"I always knew you were a smart boy." She said.  
  
"It's the research skills of a misspent youth." His mother chimed in.  
  
"So how is your brother?" She asked. Gabriel was no fool, she knew that his mother and his sister talked and had no doubt, had caught up on whatever Dr. Bowman had been doing in his busy life of pastel colored scrubs and auto accidents.  
  
"He's doing good." He said. He knew it was a vague and uninteresting answer, but he had not spoken to his brother in a few months. His little brother, the bizzrre collector of strange and odd. He never understood, his brother. Neither had any of his other family, nor did the small town they were raised in, but it made no difference. Gabriel liked what he did.  
  
"He's getting married, I think." Rachel said, a twinkle in her eye.  
  
Gabriel's eyebrows raised. "Really?"  
  
"He and Andrea are thinking about it."  
  
He nodded. "They're a good couple." The truth was, the only time he had ever met his brother's girlfriend was for a brief weekend in Thanksgiving last year.  
  
"What about a girlfriend?" She asked. "You're not getting any younger."  
  
"Aunt Ray, I'm only 23." He said. "Besides, you have to be a unique girl to get the kind of stuff I do."  
  
"Wanted: Charming and unique girl interested in ancient amulets and relics. Must be able to withstand dust and darkness."  
  
They all laughed.  
  
Gabriel smiled and took out his cell phone. He had set it to vibrate, in order to stop disrupting the quiet ambiance.  
  
"Hey." He said. getting up quickly. He entered the kitchen and jumped on the counter.  
  
"Still at home?" She asked.  
  
"Yes. still at home. I've never had a parole officer but I think you're coming pretty close. Don't worry about me." He said.  
  
"I am worried though. Stay home." She ordered, her voice a little harsher than she intended.  
  
"Hey, my Aunt made peach cobbler. I'll bring you a big piece when you're done chasing bad guys." He shifted conversation, knowing she really did have concern over his safety.  
  
On the other side he heard her laugh.  
  
"I'll see you later." She said.  
  
He walked back into the living room and sat down on the plush couch.  
  
After that, they talked about everything from movies to television, to food. And Gabriel continued to take 'business calls' every hour or so. A few of them were from Jake who commented on how he had been strictly told to emphasize the need to be at home.  
  
He just laughed and told her not to worry.  
  
********  
  
"This is going nowhere, Jake."  
  
"Don't worry about it. They'll show. It's not even much of a party yet." He said, pointing at the warehouse. So far they had only seen about eighty people show up, most of them piled in cars. It was logical. If you were trying to have an illegal party, you wouldn't want a hundred cars driving to one location. It might seem suspicious.  
  
"If we go in now, they might see us and split. Better we go in when there's too many people." She said. She checked her gun.  
  
"Hey check out who decided to show up." Jake said, sitting up in his seat.  
  
Sara looked up. It was Eva.  
  
"Well, well. Our vampire came after all."  
  
Eva darted her eyes around, trying to find the two detectives. She saw a lot of familiar faces, but no cops. She held up her phone and dialed Feyd's number.  
  
"Feyd, they're here. I don't see them, but I know they're here."  
  
"Very good. Place the call to Mr. Bowman." She could picture him grinning on the other side. "I'll be there in a few minutes."  
  
"What do you want me to do?" She asked him.  
  
"Just keep an eye out for the cops." He said.  
  
********  
  
Gabriel's phone rang again and he frowned. It was a little early for Pez to be calling. Upon looking at his phone, it was an unknown number.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Gabriel, my boy. Congratulations on escaping your fate." The voice said. "But we would like to inform you that we have your friend."  
  
In the background he heard a shriek.  
  
"What do you want?" He asked, calmly as possible. He was now in the kitchen, his head in his hand, his eyes closed.  
  
"Be at the harbor warehouse, number 18. Tonight at 12. And your cops, don't worry about them. They won't be attending our family gathering. You can't stay away from what must happen, Gabriel. But if you try, you know who's going to take your place."  
  
The line went dead.  
  
"Why me?" He growled. He dialed again.  
  
"Gabriel?" Sara asked.  
  
"They have Dave." He said. "They want me to go there at midnight, or else Dave's going to be a shish kabob. Harbor 18."  
  
"I want you to stay there."  
  
"I can't stay here." He said. "I have to be there."  
  
"No, you don't."  
  
"Dave may not be a friend anymore, but he doesn't deserve to die." He said, taking care to lower his voice.  
  
"And you do?" She asked. "Harbor 18, I got it. Me and Jake have it covered. Trust me. Do NOT come."  
  
"Okay." He said simply.  
  
"I want you at the station." She said. "Seriously."  
  
"So you can keep an eye on me?" He asked.  
  
"Yes. Two eyes if I can."  
  
"At least you're honest."  
  
In the car, Sara motioned for Jake. She mouted something and he nodded. He dialed the number for the station.  
  
"Gabriel, stay at home." She said. "I have it covered."  
  
She hung up and took Jake's phone.  
  
"Danny, how's your family?"  
  
"Family crisis averted." He said. "I just got back in, where are you?"  
  
"At the harbor warehouse, tracking down our vampires. They have Gabriel's friend." She said. "I need you to go to Gabriel and keep him at home." She said. "Stay outside, go inside, give them a fruit basket, I don't care. Just keep him at home. I don't want him coming out to help his friend."  
  
"Where is he?" Danny asked, pulling out a notepad.  
  
"His aunt's name is Rachel Connely." She repeated the address Gabriel had given her and added a thanks.  
  
"No problem. Be careful." He said. "Call me if you need help and I'll send someone to keep an eye on Gabriel."  
  
"Thanks, partner." She said.  
  
She hung up and looked out at the crowd gathering.  
  
"That's our guy." Jake pointed.  
  
"Time to crash the party."  
  
They left the car, hopefully not looking too suspicious. Jake slipped into the crowd going in and she quickly lost sight of him. Pezzini walked around the outside of the building, looking around.  
  
Danny arrived at the front of a nice apartment building. He parked across the street from the front of the building and looked up at the window.  
  
********  
  
"What's the matter?" Martha asked. He shook his head and quickly pasted a smile on his face.  
  
"Nothing, Mom. Just a little tired." He said.  
  
"In that case, we'll leave you to rest." His mother kissed him on the cheek and left the guest room.  
  
He closed the door and locked it. Hearing the light click of the lock slipping into place, he slipped into his jacket and slid the window open.  
  
"Wrong move Gabriel." Danny said, now parked behind the building. On a hunch, he had moved his car, knowing this kid was clever.  
  
He left the car and stood below the fire escape where Gabriel was now climbing down.  
  
"Didn't she stay to stay inside?"  
  
"Sorry. I don't listen very well." Gabriel said to Danny.  
  
"Well you should." Gabriel started to walk but Danny moved ahead of him. "You're going to get yourself killed. She's out there doing her job, she doesn't need you there so she can worry about you. You can help by staying home."  
  
"I've got a friend out there." He hesitated. "I don't like sitting around not being able to do anything."  
  
"You don't have to not do anything." Danny said. "But this time, just follow directions and stay in. She doesn't need you there so she can worry. If she knows you're safe she can concentrate on saving your friend."  
  
Gabriel shrugged.  
  
"Sara said you were good with history." He said. He had brought something with him, just for a backup plan. If he couldn't appeal to his natural curiosity, well who knows? He took out a small photograph in a glossy protective cover.  
  
"That's Lee Harvey Oswald." He pointed.  
  
Danny nodded. "My friend wanted to know if this picture was authentic. And what it's worth."  
  
Gabriel took the picture. "You want to come in?" He asked. "My aunt made a killer peach cobbler."  
  
*****  
  
"Welcome, Detective." A voice called out. This time she was prepared. She was at warehouse number 18, different from the one where the party was. It was, however, close enough that no one could hear anything that happened inside. She was standing beside a circuit breaker.  
  
"Stop hiding."  
  
"And let you catch me?" He asked. "You already know what I look like."  
  
"And I know what your friends look like too. Is that your gimmick? Taking gullible kids and using them--"  
  
"We provide for a better life, detective. These kids are only getting what they want."  
  
"Right. Stop with the speech. We know what you're doing with these kids."  
  
"Hey it's not my fault these freaks want to be vampires. They're walking around thinking they're immortal, they drink blood? I only picked them because they were asking for it."  
  
"Yeah, I bet they asked for it. It's not as if you offered them anything, would it be?" She moved closer to the shadow, her hand reaching behind her for the circuit.  
  
"They were depressed and sad. If I hadn't ended their misery they would have done it eventually."  
  
"That's a great way of illeviating your own guilt." She fumbled for the switch. "I wonder, do you go out during the day?"  
  
She flipped the switch. The lights high above burst to life, although reluctantly. She could now see the area around her easier, shadows were smaller. Less places to hide. She saw someone dart behind a crate and she walked to it, gun out.  
  
"I don't want to hurt your buddies, Feydon." She said.  
  
"Be careful. They might hurt you instead. Watch out behind you." He said.  
  
She turned just in time to avoid a knife. She felt the Witchblade shine, bonding with instinct. And in a flash, her gauntlet came to life, hiding her forearm in a metal sheath.  
  
"What the--"  
  
She punched the man and he dropped his knife. Stumbling back, he took a swing and grimaced when his fist hit metal. Sara threw him into a stack of crates and he slumped over, unconscious.  
  
"What the hell are you?" Feyd asked. His voice no longer held the same confidence.  
  
Another person came from the shadows, this time a girl. She was armed with a gun and aimed. Sara held up the gauntlet and the bullet bounced off. The girl's eyes became wide and she dropped the gun. She started to run into the darkness but Sara pulled her back.  
  
"No you don't." She said.  
  
"Pez!" Jake ran in, gun ahead of him.  
  
"Take care of her." She said. "I have to find Wales."  
  
*******  
  
"I'm itching to leave, you know that right?" Gabriel said.  
  
Danny nodded. "I know. But it's better if you don't."  
  
The picture had only captivated Gabriel's attention for so long. After an hour and a half, they settled down for a card game. How did they explain why Danny was there? Well, Danny was a friend from the NYPD whose grandmother, they found out, happened to know Gabriel's grandmother.  
  
"Small world." He had said earlier.  
  
"How did you meet Sara?" Danny asked.  
  
Gabriel anticipated a question like that. But the truth was, the entire thing was fuzzy. She came in about the Witchblade, but it seemed so odd. Like when she asked him if they had met before, he had the urge to ask the same thing. It seemed like there was a hidden joke there, as if they had met before. He shook it out of his head and looked up. Danny was looking at him inquisitively.  
  
"She came in asking about something. An heirloom." He said. "I also make good coffee."  
  
He smiled and they laughed. "She's a good person."  
  
"She's spent more than one Christmas and Thanksgiving with my family. We're all like family."  
  
"I have to admit I don't know a huge amount about her." Gabriel said.  
  
"Sara Pezzini is a mystery sometimes." Danny said. "All we can do is let things sort out on their own."  
  
****  
  
Pezzini's shoes sank into the moist dirt and she felt the sticky mud lodge itself into the grooves of her shoes. She grumbled and continued on her stalk. She was on a quest to find Dave Wales, wherever he may be. She could hear music, the beat in full swing as people danced in another building, unaware.  
  
"Where the hell are you?!" She shouted into the night sky, mostly from frustration.  
  
The sound of chirping crickets was her answer. Her fear came into light as she suspected that she would never find this man again, or that he had claimed his latest victim. She walked further and the Witchblade glowed. It's red eye blinked quietly, as if telling her that it could see something. She looked at it, glowing, as if it spoke to her. Times like that, she felt as if there was something else directing her, guiding her. It was bizarre as usual.  
  
There was nothing but crickets and the rustling of rodents. Then something caught her eye. A light twinkling of light from a small window down near the ground, half covered up by bushes. She crouched in front of the window and looked inside. She could see a camping lantern, it's halogen lighting illuminating and then being quelched by a dark shadow moving in front of it. Pezzini quickly moved away and looked around the building for an entrance. She stepped on something hard and she looked down. Her eyes met a rusty chain, connected to something buried in brown grime. She pulled at it, staining her hands. The chain shook away the dirt and she pushed the rest of it away with her boot. Her hands found an equally rusty metal handle and she pulled. The grate made a creaking noise as she lifted it.  
  
Jake had called backup. They handled the two criminals and when they noticed the rave, had sent more units to break up the party. Jake was now looking around for Sara, wondering how far her search had taken her. He walked past the eerie decrepit shacks, some of which were graveyards for old machinery, others just empty. He saw a black hole in the distance and began running.  
  
"Pez?"  
  
"Jake." The voice called from down inside. He fumbled for the ladder and found done. Sighing and shaking his head, he jumped down.  
  
"Watch out." She said, as he hit the dirt.  
  
He groaned. "Thanks for the warning."  
  
"I haven't found them yet." She said. "It's like a maze down here."  
  
"I think it used to be an old bomb shelter. One of those big ones that was built to keep six families alive in case of nuclear attack." He coughed at the cumulated dust. It stung his eyes but he ignored it. He took out a small flashlight and it at least provided a little light. There was a muffled scream in the distance and they both took off running.  
  
Jake reached the closed door first. He pounded the hard door and it shook at the impact, but did not show signs of collapse. He looked at Pez and she took out her gun. Jake stepped back and she shot at the lock. Sparks flew as the bullets hit the crusty old door. She kicked it open and a ruddy face looked up at them.  
  
"Where is he?" She asked him. He seemed to frightened he could barely speak. He pointed and Pez ran to her right, into the shadows where she found an open door. A light wind blew through and sent chills through her. She quickly looked back and saw Jake call an ambulance. She felt the Witchblade and she felt the urge to put away her gun and let the gauntlet do it's purpose. She kept walking and her eyes scanned the region. She saw someone move behind her and with unnatural ability, she turn and ran.  
  
She felt the gauntlet transform itself, preparing for battle as it had done centuries before, with it's most famous wielder. But Sara Pezzini was not facing British armies as Joan of Arc had done, she was facing a sadistic killer who was now evading the thing that had fallen apart in his hands.  
  
The lights outside hanging from the edge of the warehouse suddenly came to life, putting both of them in spotlights. She saw his arm raised and by reflex, she raised her arm. The shots rang out like fireworks and they sparked as they bounced off. His eyes became wide and he began to run. She quickly ran after him and dove. She caught his legs and he went sprawling. His head hit a rock and he spat blood from his cut mouth as he stood up and aimed again. This time, she hit him in the head and the metal impacting cranium was like a gong going off. He fell back, unconscious.  
  
She felt eyes on her back and she turned, noticing that the Witchblade had reverted to the bracelet. She quickly hid it under her jacket sleeve, in case it was still glowing. Jake nodded.  
  
"Good job." He said, looking at Feydon.  
  
******  
  
"How was it?" She asked. Danny shrugged.  
  
"He's a good kid." He said. "Knows a lot about Lee Harvey Oswald."  
  
Sara smiled and nodded.  
  
"Gabriel?"  
  
"Yes, Mom?" He said a little wearily. She was still there. And his apartment looked a little less Gabriel Bowman and a little more Martha Bowman. He at least prevented her from putting potted plants. He claimed they would suffer and die from the lack of sunlight. Which wasn't really true, since he had big windows and no curtains. But it was more like he would forget they were ever there and not water them.  
  
"Do you ever eat?" She asked. The refridgerator door was open. "You have nothing in here."  
  
"Not true." A voice said. He looked up to see Sara walking up. "He has a bottle of ketchup."  
  
"Are you sure it's ketchup?" His mother asked. "Nice to see you again Detective." She disappeared back into the war zone.  
  
"We got him. He's locked away, and he's not getting out."  
  
"I heard. Good job."  
  
"I had help." She said, grinning.  
  
"Want something to drink? I got tea, red bull with vodka--" He looked into his kitchen, with it's counters full of groceries.  
  
"I threw out the vodka." His mother shouted.  
  
Gabriel nodded. "Forget the vodka then. Coffee?"  
  
She nodded and they entered the kitchen, the war zone of groceries, and they began to restock his kitchen, as good friends do. She could not help but feel the cold metal on her wrist warm up, telling her something was on the horizon. New evil, new danger. And she could not help but think that it was telling her that even if she tried her hardest, Gabriel Bowman was not about to let his friend wander into hardship alone. Wherever she would go, she had a feeling that Danny, Gabriel, and even Jake McCartey would be there waiting, helping her in her battles. 


End file.
